The Sunshine Experiment
by G.M.Keys
Summary: Aura Quartz, depending on who you're asking can be a whole lot of things. To some she considered a mistake, a problem, a tool. To others she is a legacy, someone who is supposed to be leader. If you ask her, she's just a quartz who wanted to be in the sunshine.
1. Escape and Electricity

The Sunshine Experiment

Chapter One

Escape and Electricity

"Stop those gems!"

Aura looked back, an entire squadron of rubies was bearing after her and Red. Tugging her friend's hand, they skidded around the corner, barreling through another group of guards.

"Fire!"

Aura screamed as the volley of bullets flew over her head. In a flash, Red grabbed the smaller gem and tucked her under her arms, blocking the spray of fire with her body.

"Shoot to maim not kill! Yellow Diamond wants that one alive!"

Aura cried out as she was suddenly thrown into the next chamber. The crystal on Red's shoulder glowed a brilliant white and the doorway was suddenly blocked by a thick wall of chalky white and red streaked stone. The taller gem turned swiftly to her small companion, "You okay kid?"

Aura slowly got to her feet, wincing as she examined the core cuff covering her now cracked gem, "Am I okay?!" She panted, looking over at her friend, "Who cares about me, I'm not the one who got flame-sprayed by those jerks. What about you?"

"I'm good," She smirked, threading her fingers through her spiky white bangs, "I'm not a some dainty pearl, it's takes a lot more than a little fire to bring me down."

Aura shivered, she could hear the guards chipping their way through the blockade. She looked up fearfully at her fellow escapee, "What are we gonna do?! That isn't gonna hold back the rubies for very long and the escape pods take at least five minutes to start up!"

Red looked at the control system and then back at the doorway, "You're right," She murmured, frowning . The bigger gem jumped into the wheelie chair, "Computer," Red called, her hands flying over the controls, "Initiate override sequence E-29793, Code- Stratus."

The machine began to hum, "Accepted." A smooth metallic voice announced, "Initiating link start, estimated time till departure- seven minutes, thirty seven seconds."

Red stated down at the computer keys, her hands trembling. She slowly got out of the chair and stared down at the young gem standing next to her. The milky white gem let out a heavy sigh, "Sorry Aura." In a flash the she grabbed the gem by the torso and heaved her over her shoulder.

"What are you doing!" Aura yelped, frightened by the moonstone's sudden aggressiveness. Red carried Aura over to the pod and bodily threw her into the seat.

"This is for your own good," She grounded out through clenched teeth, quickly and efficiently pulling Aura's arms through the harness straps,

Aura's blood ran cold, "What are you talking about?!" She tried to stand up but the older gem forced her back down.

"Listen," Red spoke grimly, "Someone has to stay here to make sure the pod gets off the ground, that barrier won't last forever."

Aura's eyes widened in realization, "But we're supposed to leave together!" She cried out, shoving back against her. Red grunted and firmly held the young gem down as she tightened the buckles.

"I can help you!" Aura reasoned, trying to fight off Red's invasive hands, "We can fight-"

"No." Aura flinched at the hard edge of her tone. "You are leaving, END of story." Red growled. She wrenched Aura's arms away and exposed the rest of the straps she had been trying to cover.

"You can't do this!" Aura protested, her eyes wide with disbelief and anger as she wildly kicked at the moonstone.

"Oh yes I can!" Red firmly asserted, "Now hold still!" She grabbed the smaller gem's legs and lifted her up, thrusting her upper body back against the restrictive seat

"No! No! NO!" Aura squealed, thrashing in her tight grip."Stop it Red!"

"This would be a lot easier if you would stop fighting me!" Red rebuked, expertly looping the straps behind Aura and through the back of her squirming legs. Aura scowled and fidgeted as the older gem secured and tightened the crotch strap, locking her in place.

"See? That wasn't so hard was it?" Red muttered, walking over to the control board. She sat down at the chair and typed in a series of codes the Aura couldn't see, "I promised Sun that I'd protect you and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"I refuse!" She declared, pulling against the restriants, "You can't just decide these things for yourself! I'll stay and fight! I'm not just gonna leave you behind!" Aura let out a cry of frustration, "You are the only family I have left!"

Muffled shouts rang out from behind the cracking barrier and the pounding only gre louder with each minute. Glancing fervently between Aura and the barrier, Red let out a hurried breath and a muted white light englufed her. Stepping back, Red expertly held a smoky, double bladed naginata that had materialized from her gem.

Red turned away and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry, but in four minutes you are leaving; with or without me." The sharp weapon sliced through the air, gleams of light reflected off of the its surface, bathing the room in moonlight "You are to inexperienced to fight off an entire squadron of trained rubies as it is let alone with a core cuff on, not even mentioning the fact that summoning your weapon is spotty at most! I don't know what I would do if you got hurt..."

Aura shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her lip quivered, "But-"

"Don't worry about me, I'm gonna be just fine, I can handle the heat!" Red twirled her silvery weapon, pointing it at the horde of gems about to break through, "Go, go and don't look back! I'll catch up!"

The pod roared to life and the passenger gasped as the shell began to slowly close up around her. "Promise me!" The young gem demanded, her voice thick with emotion, "Promise me that you'll be okay!"

Red froze for a second before turning around, "Like I said," she winked, running up along side the pod, "I'll catch up!" She smiled and swiftly slipped her hand between the closing shell to ruffle Aura's hair, "Keep practicing your singing while I'm gone, maybe when I get there we could start up that band we always talked about!" Red snorted and lightly traced the sparkling golden shard hanging around her neck, "Sun would of-"

"Capture the prisoners! They must not escape!" A deep baritone voice echoed across the chamber. The barrier burst apart and gems came flying through the open gap, weapons raised.

Red swore and dodged a multitude of shrapnel. By then the shell had completely closed up leaving Aura completely cut off from her friend.

"Don't even think about it!" Red snarled, slashing the rubies who had went for the control pad. Aura pounded against the glass in vain as she watched the lone gem face off against the innumerable army.

"Feldspar Hecatolite Facet-6L2E Cut-10X, A yellow jasper spoke, pushing her way through the crowd of gems, "In the name of the Great Diamond Authority, put away your weapon and surrender immediately! You are out numbered and completely-"

"Red." The feldspar interrupted smoothly, glaring coldly at the gem who had spoken, "My name is Red." She declared, standing proudly before the gems, "I have a name, not a serial number and I expect you to use it. Unlike you lot," Red rose a brow and gestured vaguely to the rest of the gems before her, "I want more out of life than kissing some Diamond's ass." Reds snapped, narrowing her eyes at the warrior gem before her.

"You would do well not to disrespect the Diamond Authority in front of me, you filthy traitor." The jasper growled, laying a hand over her chest. In a burst of light a wicked looking sickle was pulled from her gem. "Frankly, I don't care what you call yourself. All I want is the weapon." She spat, jerking her head toward the pod. "Give it to me."

"I'll never let you have her!" Red promised, spinning her naginata as she poised herself for a fight. The room dropped ten degrees. The guards back away in horror as the moonstone's shimmering skin cracked and turned an deep crimson. The warm beams of light faded to a dark, bloody red. "Have you ever wondered what was in the dark side of the moon?" Red asked, lifting her soulless gaze to meet the slew of gems,"Have you ever wondered why gems _fear_ it?"

The yellow gem sneered, the sickle gleaned and crackled with the foreboding sound of electricity, "If you think that you scare me don't flatter yourself." The warrior gem swung her weapon out and faced the enemy up, "You may be a Feldspar but you're only one gem." She sneered and sized Red up, "And a nasty defective one at that, I'll smash you to pieces!" She turned toward the troops behind her, "Get the weapon." The jasper commanded, taking a threatening step toward the renegade, "I'll take care of this one!"

Red's gem glowed a deep scarlet and dark mist began to seep into the room. As if it had a mind of its own, the cloud converged on the guards. Left and right gems poofed as the mist choked them in its poisonous body.

"Hah! You think that'll stop me?!" A bellow cut across the room. With frightening speed, the jasper burst through the mist, aiming a blow towards Red's chest. Skidding back, the feldspar thrust her own weapon up and caught the edge of the blade with her own. Both gems shoved against each other in a brief show of strength. Red grunted and flipped back to gain some distance. I'm a Quartz!" The jasper declared proudly, "You can't beat me!" Red said nothing, shifting her stance, She lowered her body and positioned herself in front of the pod. Neither of the gems moved for a moment. "You're weak and pathetic! You and I both know how this is going to end." The jasper sneered, "You were fated to lose the moment you came out wrong!"

Red blinked, the world seemed to come to a stop for a brief moment. She glanced around, the room was filled with to the brim with enemies. Red's eyes narrowed and her mouth firmed with a grim determination, the jasper wasn't wrong, she knew exactly how this was going to end.

' _You're just gonna have to accept a nickname. I can't keep calling you Feldspar Hecolite whatever the rest of that is. That is WAY to much of a mouth full!'_

The dark gem grazed the tip of her finger of the sparkling shard that contrasted brightly against her skin, if only she was here...

 _"Hmm...What about Mooney?"_

 _"No!" The gemstone exclaimed in horror, looking up at the tangerine colored sunstone sitting next to her._

 _"Hmm..." The golden feldspar ran her fingers through her own shimmering white locks and frowned, "You're right, how silly of me!" She tipped her head back and let out a laugh, "It wouldn't fit your personality at all."_

 _The young moonstone crossed her arms and scowled up at the taller gem, "I don't want a nickname!" She huffed, her face burning with anger, "It is derogatory to my mission, my purpose and my diamond! I am prefer being addressed as Feldspar Hecatolite Facet-6L2E Cut-10X. If you absolutely must, you may call me Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X.'_

 _"Mmm... Is that right?" The sunstone looked down at the little gem sitting next to her. "Is it the name that is derogatory or is it the stigma of being different?" She asked kindly, flashing a sad smile._

 _The small gem quieted at that, reflexively touching her fingers to the gem on her shoulder. She stared out into the distance, her gaze lost in the vast deep ocean._ _Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X_ _trembled as she felt along the rough duvets that marred her gem._

 _"Oh I've got it!" Sun exclaimed, snapping the young gem out of her thoughts, "What about Red?"_

 _The feldspar sputtered, whipping her head to face the older gem, "Red?!" She hissed, scrambling away like she had been burned, "You're kidding right." She strained, her voice choked with anger_ _. Her gem glowed a bloody red and her light colored body deepened to a dark crimson. The gem stared down at her glowing skin as the red muation spread across her skin like a disease. "I-I j-just... I-I h-hate..."_ _Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X_ _grit her teeth in frustration, her body trembled with humiliation._

 _She wouldn't ever escape it, would she? The gem let out a haggard breath. But how could she?! She couldn't escape her own faults, her own skin. It didn't matter how many times she regenerated, she always managed to turn herself that damned color. "Red huh."_ _Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X_ _spoke slowly, testing out the name on her tongue as she closed her fingers painfully around the base of her gem. Throwing her head back, the feldspar let out a bitter laugh, "It's fitting, in a way. 'Red' is a perfect name." She spat out harshly, "It represent exactly what I'm good for. Nothing."_

 _"That is not true." Sun disagreed, her voice raising slightly in volume, "You are good for something."_

 _There was a long pause._

 _"You're right."_ _Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X spoke_ _complacently, her voice taking on a flat tone, "I am good for one thing, shattering!" Closing her palm around her gem, she began to crush her hand into her gem._

 _In one swift movement the taller gem firmly grabbed the moonstone's fist. "Don't touch me!" The feldspar yelped, thrashing against her iron grip. "Someone like me should never be-"_

 _"Not another word!" The sunstone commanded, her usually soft tone contained an edge of steel , "Not. Another. Word." Her intense voice silenced the feldspar. The milky white moonstone abruptly stopped struggling and tensed as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle. She closed her eyes and braced herself for a blow or a sharp tongue lashing from her superior officer but to her confusion one never came._ _Moonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X_ _choked up when she felt herself being pulled into a tight hug._

 _The smaller gem slowly opened her eyes. She looked down at her disgustingly crimson body and back up at the glimmering gem snugly holding her. A lump grew in her throat, "W-Why?" M_ _oonstone Facet-6L2E Cut10X_ _finally spoke, glaring down at the ground listlessly._

 _The sunstone slowly pulled away, "Why what?" She asked softly, looking down at the_

 _"Why do you care?"_

 _"Why huh?" The shimmering gem hummed to herself and squeezed the small gem close. "Well why not?"_

 _The small reddish gem clenched her fists in frustration, "You are a perfect feldspar!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air, "High ranking, flawless, efficient in work, experienced and respected on many different fields. Everything a gem would aspire to be and more..." She sniffed, wiping her nose in her arm, "-and I'm nothing. To someone of your level I'm WORSE than nothing. You don't have any obligation to me, you shouldn't even be NEAR a defective gem of my low stature..."_

 _"That's not how I see it." The shimmering yellow gem replied, running her fingers through the smaller gem's scalp._

 _"Not see?!" The moonshine grounded out, swatting the offending hand away, "How COULDN'T you see! LOOK AT ME!" The gem bellowed, whipping her body around, "I AM RED! Not white not green not yellow or brown or any other color but RED! The one color I'm not supposed to be, a mistake." She_ _whispered out the tale end of her rant and pulled her knees up into her chest. "A waste of space, good for nothing at all."_

 _"No," Sun spoke, her calm voice filled with confidence, "You are definitely good for something."_

 _"Oh yeah? And what's that?" She shot back._

 _"Being yourself." Sun beamed at her confused features, "And what's wrong with the color red anyways?! Red is actually one my favorite colors."_

Sun had brought her out of that dark and into the sunshine. That crazy, life loving gem showed her how to be the best that she could be. Red turned her head back toward the pod and drank in the features of the budding young gem she had grown to cherish. She only wished she could have done the same for her little protege...

"Whats wrong? Diamond got your tongue?" The jasper taunted, bearing her teeth, "Or have you given up?"

Red said nothing, she was perfectly content in letting her talk away. The corner of her mouth twitched, a chatty jasper... That wasn't something you saw everyday.

Electricity crackled and the yellow gem growled, "What's so funny?!" She spat, tightening the grip on her weapon.

Red chuckled and trained her eyes on the hulking form of the quartz. A few rubies were beginning to reform and the mist was slowly diluting, making the barrier around her weaker and weaker. "I'm not trying to escape." Red replied smugly, bearing her teeth. "I'm stalling. And you've done an absolutely wonderful job helping me." She beamed and gave a mocking bow.

"Systems complete, initiating launch sequence." A modulated voice announced before a low hum filled the air as the pod came to life.

Confusion quickly dawned into furious realization. "No!" The jasper bellowed, anger rolling off her in waves. "Useless rubies!" She growled, electricity spilling from her figure, "I'll stop this myself!"

The ground rumbled and in a shower of red light, the jasper was constricted by a wall of chalky white stone. "I don't think so!" Red declared, narrowing her eyes. She grunted and let out a ragged breath as the jasper strained against the the stone. It wasn't going to last long.

Red closed her eyes and turned, "Aura." She spoke, her deep voice commanding attention. The gem in question was staring at her with a pleading expression. Aura was pressed up against the glass and was furiously saying something though Red had no idea what. Sparking blue met her crimson eyes and a pang of regret passed through Red's core. It hurt, to know that she wasn't going to be there. It hurt to know that she wasn't going to see Aura grow up, to see her become the wonderful gem that she always believed that little runt of a quartz could be. After all, Sun's legacy was bound to be something great.

"I know you can't hear me," Red began, locking eyes with Aura, "And there is so much I want to tell you but..." She choked and squeezed her eyes shut before stepping forward to lay her hands against the vibrating glass of the ship. "-You're gonna be great kid." Red promised, trying to convey as much feeling as she could in her eyes. Aura had her hand overlapped with her own on the other side of the glass, she could see the tears running down the Quart's face and her heart clenched.

"I'm going to kill you defect! Your gem will be powder when I'm done with you!" The jasper raged, banging her head against the stone.

"-I just know it." Red finished, flashing her usual dazzling smile, stepping back away from the ship as it sounded out its final warning. She watched as Aura began to plead with the hologram inside the ship, still banging her fists against the glass. They caught eyes one last time, Red lifted her hands and formed a heart, "I love you." She whispered, and with that she swung her oversized weapon and slashed down into the control pad, destroying all the other pods and any way of stopping Aura's escape.

A sickening crack echoed across the room Red turned just in time to dodge the furious form of the jasper. "You're dead!" The quartz bellowed, pieces of gravel flew from her hair as she lunged for the moonstone.

Aura gaped in horror as the horde of gems broke free of their constraints and converged on her friend. Red turned and charged the calvary, piercing her weapon through a ruby. Lifting into the air, the escape pod blasted off, leaving the last of her family behind. Aura stared back at the planet that was slowly fading out of view "Red..." She choked out, her body shaking with sobs. The young gem clutched the shard on her necklace, squeezing it so tight her body was shaking.

* * *

Steven pressed his face against the window and let out a long sigh.

"Is everything all right Steven?" Pearl asked, walking into the living room.

"It's still raining!" He groaned, frowning at the droplets of water running down the glass, "Dad and I were planning to do a huge water war this afternoon!"

Pearl glanced out the window, "Well I don't see why you can't have your 'water war', it's only a little rain. You're going to be wet anyways."

"But it's not the same!" Steven exclaimed, "The rain would destroy any chances of there being a winner or loser!"

Pearl rose her brow, "Winner or loser?"

"Exactly!" Steven nodded his head in thought, "A game of this caliber is measured by the amount of wetness one receives. The rain equalises the battle field making all strategy, sneak attacks and maneuvers invalid. One hit knock outs are meaningless!" Steven let out another long suffering sigh and fell back onto the floor.

Pearl chuckled at his dramatics, "Well I'm sure you can still-"

BOOM!

Lighting streaked across the sky and a great crack of thunder echoed across the beach. Steven stared mournfully out the window, "Everything is ruined!"

"Whoa, what's with the doom and gloom?" Amethyst asked, watching the show with interest.

Steven ignored her question and instead let out another groan and rolled over into his side.

"I believe he was really looking forward to having a 'water war' with Greg. " Pearl answered, keeping her voice low, "But his plans were cancelled because of the storm, he seems pretty upset."

"Eh, Steven'll be fine!" Amethyst stated nonchalantly, "It's not like he's dying or anything. Can't he just do it tomorrow-"

"My life is over!" He remarked loudly from his position on the floor, "Just leave me be as I waste away~"

"What a shame, all washed up at age twelve. You have a disappointing life ahead of you, Steven." A new voice called out from the temple doorway.

Amethyst snorted with laughter, "Nice timing Garnet, are we ready to go?!"

"Yes, I tracked the signal to an offshore island. If we go fast, we might be able to find a clue about where the weird signals are coming from." Garnet announced, adjusting the shades over her eyes.

Steven perked up, "Wait, signals? Weird islands?! Can I come!"

"I thought you wanted us to leave you alone?" Amethyst laughed, her gem glowed and she shapeshifted into a copy of Steven, "To waste away~" She mocked, throwing her hand dramatically over her Steve-like forehead, imitating a damsel in distress.

"Amethyst!" Pearl admonished, putting her hands on her hips, "That's not particularly nice."

"Who cares?" Amethyst rolled her eyes and changed back to her normal state, "It's not like I'm 'particularly nice' in the first place."

"Well you can't just be rude, you really shouldn't-"

"Oh I REALLY shouldn't?" Amethyst interrupted, butting heads with Pearl, "Who are you to say what I should and shouldn't do? It's not like you're the picture of perfection miss-"

Steven ignored the bickering and latched onto Garnet's legs, "You gotta let me go with you guys! I'm a Crystal Gem too!" Steven looked up at Garnet and gave her the very best puppy dog look he could manage.

"Hmm, no. Sorry Steven, but I don't really know what is out there, it might be really dangerous."

"Or it could be so totally awesome..." Steven pouted, keeping his spot on Garnet's feet.

"Tell you what," Steven looked up as he found himself lifted to his feet, "I'll bring you back something nice and I promise, next time you can come with us."

"Something nice huh?" Steven borrowed at his reflection in Garnet's but turned his head away with a reluctant nod, "Okay, I guess I can stay here."

"Good, I'm glad you understand." Garnet turned to the other two, "Amethyst get Pearl's arm out of your mouth, you don't know where it's been."

Amethyst spit out the appendage and laughed, "Whatever you say Garnet, I'm ready when you are." With a leap, she jumped up onto the warp pad.

"My arm is NOT as dirty as you are insinuating!" Pearl huffed, sticking her nose in the air, "In fact, I think that if we were to compare arms mine would be-"

"Blah, Blah, Blah! Could you like do me a favor and like take a chill pill or something?" Amethyst interrupted, rolling her eyes.

"Looks who's talking!" Pearl exclaimed, wiping slobber off her arm in disgust as she stepped into the warp pad with the other two, "You can't have a normal, civilized conversation without-"

"Bye Steven!" Garnet waved, "We won't take long."

He sighed as they warped away, now what was he supposed to do?

* * *

The smell of smoke hung heavily in the air and a low off key hum echoed through the hull. "System levels- offline, Mixture control- offline, Loss of pressure- partial, Fuel Selector Valves- offline-"

Aura's head pounded, she let out a groan and clutched her head, her ears were ringing. It was so noisy! What were the gems outside of her cell doing? She blearily sat up and rubbed her eyes, it was better to be up before the guards came on their rounds. She had learned that one the hard-

Darkness, that's all she could see. Aura's breath quickened and she jerked her head around in an attempt to make heads or tails of where she was. The gem let out a yelp as the area around her lit up in one belief, terrible flash. Her body was dangling precariously against the straps as the planet's gravity pulled her toward the cracked and burning hot metal plating that was directly below her. The sharp pieces of debris jutting from the ground around the crash sight steamed as the rain pelleted the cracked shell. Her ship seemed to have been flipped during its rough landing through the atmosphere.

The young gem hissed in pain, her body was aching all over. Thunder shook the sky and Aura violently pulled against the straps in a panic to escape the ferocious sound. The ship creaked and groaned with the effort.

"-incubation connectors- fourteen percent and failing, flight gear control- offline-"

 _'Remember your training.'_ A sounded suspiciously like Red's pounded through her panicked mind.

A soft whine pierced the darkness and the strobe lights running along the inside of the cracked panels flickered. "Alternator output detected," A smooth metallic voice started, it's disembodied voice rising and falling in tone as it tried and failed to project it's usual hologram. "A112: twelve percent. Alternator output detected, A115: thirty eight percent. Alternator output detected, A116: twenty seven perc-"

Aura took a few deep gulping breaths and focused her thoughts on the voice that was echoing through the crash sight. Shaking her head, she fumbled with the numerous buckles until they clicked off. Dropping off the seat, Aura back flipped off the head rest and landed right side up on all fours. She let out a wince as rain seeped through the twisted metal and pooled at her hands and feet, sizzling as the droplets evaporated into the atmosphere.

The sleek control board was now in shambles, wires and panels swung haphazardly from a few sheets of gleaming electroplate. Liquid streamed down into the cracks and billows of steam rose from the overheated tech.

Aura's gaze lifted until she locked eyes with the dark mass that was situated on the outskirts of the shattered glass that parked the perimeter of the crash sight. Wrapping her arms around herself, she scootched back away from the howling winds that came with the torrential down pour. Without the tinted glass shielding the outside away, it was a lot easier to see the new world. It was a much louder and frankly she didn't really want to see anymore of the scary place. It was a strange land and it was nothing like Sun had spoken of, it was dark and wet and lonely, she missed Red.

A red light began to flash slowly and systematically on the wall above her head. It was weak and barley had enough light to display the emergency signal inside the cracked glass beside it. "Disengaging gear landing procedures." The warbling voice continued, "One, Three and Five- offline. Recommending immediate evacuation, Alternator Fuel pressue- unstable. Recommending immediate-"

Another crack of lighting streaked across the horizon. Aura yelped and jumped in fright, her back slammed back against the dead machinery. She winced and slowly got back up to her knees, gasping as a stabbing pain went through her upper arm. Aura scratched at the cuff that was blocking access to her cracked gem. She needed figure out how to get it off so she could retreat back into her gem.

"Not here though" Aura muttered, glaring through the cracked metal and into the unknown. Regeneration was a nasty business and there was no way in this or any other world that she was going to go about it in a compromised location. She had no idea what form of species if any at all resided here and Aura couldn't afford being caught unawares. The quartz tugged against the lock surrounding her arm and held back a barley contained snarl. She needed to leave, no matter how scary it looked out there. Staying here would probably get her shattered.

"Recommending immediate evacuation," The disembodied voice continued to echo in a flat drone, "Alternator fuel pressure- unstable."

"Get out there, Quartz!" Aura coached as she bounced up and down in an attempt to hype herself up, "You can do it!" Aura took a few steps back and took a few shuddering breaths in a fruitless attempt to still her quivering legs. Taking a running start, she slid through the entrance and stumbled across the beach before landing face first in a sticky wet mound of sand.

Spitting the mess from her mouth, she rolled up onto her feet and stared frozen at the scenery around her. The rain fell in heavy sheets and soaked her to the bone. The wind was whipping her crazy, already uncontainable hair everywhere. It felt terrifyingly wonderful! The things Sun and Red had told her about Earth didn't compare to the real thing. The power of the waves, the grittiness of the sand and the wide expanse of the ocean. They always said that they were gonna give her the grand tour of the planet...

Aura's heart ached at the thought, shebit down on her lip in an attempt to keep a lid on her emotions. Aura gripped the golden shard that fell heavily against her chest. Red had made a promise and she was going to have to just believe that she would keep it. Red never lied, She never broke her promises.

Aura's heart swelled, lightly tracing the golden shard on her necklace. Even if it took a thousand years, Aura would find a way to them. And that was a promise that she was going to make.

Lighting cracked and the rain dumped from the sky, soaking her completely through. Pushing off the still steaming pod, She began to trudge ahead in an effort to find a secure location. In innate feeling took over and Aura couldn't help but sway slightly with the beat of the waves lapping on the shore. Aura closed her eyes and hummed to the drumming of the rain.

No one, not even the quartz herself seemed to notice the brilliant glow that began to seep out from her gem.

* * *

Steven banged his fist against the side of the television, no signal. The stupid storm was even ruining TV! Throwing the remote in defeat, Steven stomped angrily downstairs and into the kitchen for a snack.

"No water wars, no Gems and no TV..." He grumbled pulling a cookie cat ice cream sandwich out of freezer. "Could it get any worse?!"

BOOM!

Lighting cracked and the rattling door flew open with a bang, the lamp blew off the coffee table and shattered. Steven threw his hands up as lights blew out, "I just had to ask didn't I?" Fumbling around the kitchen he finally found a flashlight in one of the drawers. Flicking it on he grabbed another ice cream, "I guess watching reruns of Crying Breakfast Friends is no longer an option..." He sighed, making his way to the front door.

Steven put the two ice creams in his mouth and grabbed the door handle, "Come on!" He grumbled between the wrappers as he pushed against the door, "Why won't you close-"

Steven paused, he could hear something... singing? Turning his head toward the beach, he closed his eyes and listened. It was faint but there was definitely someone there, singing out in the storm. He pulled the two ice creams out of his mouth and stared back into the dark, empty house, "You know, these would taste a lot better if I had someone to share with." Steven grinned and ran upstairs to grab his rain gear, maybe this afternoon wouldn't be so boring after all.

* * *

 **Authors note:** This is my first story I would love any and all thoughts you have, comments are love. Just to let you know, updates will be pretty slow so I'm not making any promises.

Also, all rights to Steven Universe belong to Rebecca Sugar.

Updated: 8/6/16


	2. Sandy and Stranded

The Sunshine Experiment

Chapter 2

Sandy and Stranded

Steven ran out outside, making sure to close the door behind him. Sporting his bright yellow rain coat and hat, he skipped down the porch stairs and made his way across the beach.

The wind howled and Steven held his hat to his head, "Hello!" He called out into the open, his voice lost in the wind. " I uh.. I mean my name is Steven! I heard you uh... singing and stuff!" He listened but all he got in response was the distant rumbling of thunder. "I have ice cream!" He yelled before considering what he had said, "That wasn't supposed to be creepy!" Steven called into the distance, face palming. He looked around, the wind was picking up and the rain was coming down even harder. Steven pulled his collar up higher and braced himself against the cold.

The farther he got down the coast the more unsure he was becoming. He slowed down to a walking pace, maybe they left? I mean after all, who is crazy enough to be out in the middle of a storm like this... besides himself of course. Frowning, he kept his steady pace down the beach, looking left and right for any sign of life. Steven shivered and closed his eyes, he couldn't hear the singing anymore.

Pulling a scratched, dusty red flashlight out of his pocket, he fumbled with the switch and pointed the flickering beam in front of him. It didn't do much, the bulb was too weak and the light seemed to bounce off the beads of rain that were pelting down from the sky.

Steven pressed on despite the lack of sound or really anything to follow. The humming hadn't picked up at all and the beach appeared to be as empty as it should have been during a storm like this.

Right as he was going to call it quits, something shiny caught his eyes. Coming up in the distance, a faint blue light beamed out through the rain. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, Steven picked up the pace. He was more curious than ever of who this mysterious person was.

"Hello!" He called, coming up on a new section of beach, "Is anyone there?" Steven waved the flashlight in front of him but all he heard in response was a wind. The light from his flashlight flickered and dimmed until it turned completely off. Steven shook it a few times in an attempt to get it working again before sticking it back into his rain coat pocket.

A large crack of thunder boomed out on the horizen. Steven wrapped his fingers tightly around the ice cream in his pocket and stared pointedly around. "I know you're there." He spoke up into the wind, his voice wavering slightly. "You don't have to be afraid."

There was a rustle a little to his right, he whipped his head and walked a little closer. In a brief flash and boom of thunder, he caught sight of something bright blue through the rain. A shadow dashed across the sand and Steven took up the chase. "Hey!" He called out, "Don't run!" Steven pursued the figure down the shoreline, "I was just wondering if you wanted... a cookie cat." He panted and slowed down to a stop, watching the mysterious figure vanished in the heavy rain. Steven frowned and scratched his head in bewilderment, "What kind of person runs from-"

"STEVEN!" A frantic voice called from behind, he turned just in time to see Pearl slam into him.

"Woah!" He gasped, the wind knocked completely out of him, "Hey Pearl!" He wheezed, wiggling out of her death grip. "Hey guys," He greeted as the other two gems came running up besides Pearl.

"Are you alright!" The pale gem exclaimed, crouching down besides the boy to check him over.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "I'm fine Pearl, really!"

"What were you thinking!" Pearl admonished, standing upright once she had determined her charge was uninjured.

"Yeah Steve-man I gotta say, just leaving like that was NOT cool." Amethyst sighed and put her whip away, "We thought you got kidnapped or something."

Steven grinned sheepishly, now that he thought about it, it probably would have been a good idea to leave a note or something.

Pearl threw her hands in the air, "I mean really! Disappearing like that! Do you have any idea how worried we-

"Pearl, enough." Garnet held up her hand, stopping the lecture before it began. She whipped her head around and stared into the distance, her stoic face betraying no hint of what she was thinking.

"But Garnet!"

"We'll talk about this after we get home." Steven shifted uneasily at her icy tone, it usually meant that he was in trouble. "We need to get him out of the rain," Stepping forward, the fusion put her hand of Steven's shoulder and steered him back toward the beach house.

He hesitated slightly and turned to stare off into the distance the light had disappeared into, he was sure someone was there...

"Let's move out." Garnet commanded, giving a small squeeze to Steven's shoulder. Letting out a small sigh, he pulled his soaking wet hat over his head and turned back to begin the long march back to the temple.

* * *

Aura held her limp arm close and quickened her drunken staggering, stumbling over broken seashells and pebbles, "That was close..." Aura puffed, gasping for breath as she leaned back against the rock she was hidden behind. Catching her breath, she chanced a look over the rock to get a glance at her pursuer. It was a human, a boy to be exact. Of what age, she had no idea. Aura wasn't familiar with the aging process of the species.

Lifting her head higher she scrutinised him, Sun always said that humans were pretty friendly but Aura wasn't so sure. He couldn't be that friendly if he was chasing after her, yelling strange things. Aura shrunk back against the large rock and ducked out of his line of sight. She had no idea what these 'ice cream' and 'cookie cat' things were but she wanted no part of it. The blue gem shuddered and reflexively covered her faintly glowing gem, they sounded dangerous.

"STEVEN!"

Aura's head perked at the sound of another voice. Peeking her head out from her hiding place, she observed the three new comers. The skinny one tackled the boy before shaking him and down, looking at him from every angle. She could see them talking but couldn't hear what they were saying over the wind. The other two stood next to the skinny one, watching the scene. The red one was huge! Aura didn't even know that humans could even get that tall or get such big hair!

The pale one stood up and Aura let out a gasp, on her forehead was a great big shiny pearl! The blue quartz glanced over the other two and came to a horrifying realization, they were all gems! Were they here for her?!

Aura trembled, she bit her lip and stared ruefully down at the worsening state of her own cracked gem. Her energy was exhausted as it was not depending on the fact that her gem was in a rough state and she was stuck on a strange planet with no backup. If they found her like this there no chance of escape let alone fighting them off.

The tall one's head snapped toward her as if she had heard her inner musings. Aura's heart leap to her throat and she tumbled back behind the rock. Her already fragile body slammed down, into the rocky, gravel like sand beneath her. It took everything the quartz had not to cry out in pain. Eyes wide, she covered her mouth to muffle her breathing. She hadn't been seen had she?!

Aura slowly and quietly maneuvered herself upright, "I just gotta wait for Red." She chanted, holding her limp arm close. Water poured out of the sky and soaked her shaking figure to the core. She kept her squatting position on her ankles and felt along the web like cracks were visible of the edges of her cobalt gem that was peeking out from the edge of the metal arm band. Aura sucked in a breath and wiped away the sand and pebbles that had gotten wedged in during her fall, watching as a few granulates of her own quartz came off with them.

Aura was worried, her gem was a lot more sensitive to the elements here than she had anticipated. "Ah, stars..." She clutched her head and let out a ragged breath. This just got a lot more complicated. There was no way she could dissipate her form if there were unidentified, potential enemies ruining around. But if she didn't do something about the cracks soon...

Aura swallowed the growing lump in her throat and slid back further away from the group. She needed to go, run, get as far away from them as possible. Aura licked her lips and slunk off towards the crash sight. She needed to cover any sign of the escape pod landing on the beach. No need to unnecessarily tip them off to her presence, if they didn't already know by now. Fixing up the ship would be a good backup plan if this planet ended being to unsafe to be on. She'd have to do a little recon later so she could inform Red what they were up against if- no when she arrived. A pit formed in her stomach and she pushed herself to go faster.

* * *

"-completely irresponsible! You could have gotten sick or worse-"

It just didn't make any sense! Steven tugged at his dry pajamas and frowned, trying to look at the situation from a new angle. No matter how he pictured it, he couldn't come up with a valid reason why someone would run from ice cream... Well that wasn't true, that squirming blob that Amethyst had offered to him on a cone last week was enough to give him nightmares- but that was besides the point! These were Cookie Cats, a whole other level of delicious frozen treats!

"-training as a Crystal Gem, stunts like this are completely unacceptable, young man! Going out into the middle of a storm by yourself to hunt down an unidentifiable noise is-"

Steven nodded in thought, Pearl was right in that aspect. Why would someone be out there in the middle of the storm all by themselves? The whole thing smelled fishy to him, and not because he had just been on the beach but because it was suspicious.

"-every action has a consequence, that is how it works on the mission field and that is how it is going to work in this household. So, until you are-"

This was exactly like a mission, a mystery mission! Steven right then and there resolved to go back and look for clues. Maybe the mystery guy left something behind? Steven rubbed his chin in thought, he had to come up with a better name. Just calling them 'mystery guy' wasn't good enough. A mystery person had to have a cool mysterious name, maybe Connie could help! She read all those mystery novels, she'd definitely know about cool names!

"-is what is going to happen from now on- Are you even listening to me Steven!"

Steven jerked up at the sound of his name, "Wait what?" He cringed under Pearl's withering stare.

"Grounded. Two weeks; no TV, no video games and no missions." Garnet helpfully supplied from her position on the couch.

"No missions?!" Steven whined, "Awww, but-"

"But nothing." Garnet calmly interjected, crossing her arms over her chest, "You cannot just go running off like that, we thought you understood that after the dinner fiasco with the Maheswaran's."

"But this was different!" Steven spoke up, looking at the two of them, "I didn't just run off all of a sudden! I had a plan."

"A plan?!" Pearl choked back a noise of disbelief before turning a stern look down at the boy, "Your 'plan' consisted nothing more than running around in the rain with flashlight- a broken flashlight might I remind you!" Pearl huffed, waving the piece of plastic in front of him, "-and a couple of ice creams! What if it had been a corrupted gem or some deranged human! You would have been defenseless!"

"I would've had my shield..." Steven muttered under his breath, though not out of Pearl's hearing.

"Shield or no shield Steven, you could have gotten hurt!" Pearl chastised, crossing her arms over her chest.

Steven opened his mouth to protest but Garnet cut him off, "Pearl's right, Steven."

Steven fidgeted under the the two gem's stern looks, "I'm really sorry, guys," he mumbled despondently, "I didn't mean to make you guys mad."

Pearl let out a small sigh and crouch down beside the dejected boy, "We're not it mad at you Steven, we were worried!" She explained, gently tilting his chin up so his dark eyes could meet her light blue. "Do you have any idea how frightening it was, coming home to find a dark house, shattered glass covering the floor and you no where to be found!"

"We love you Steven." Garnet spoke, getting up to stand in front of the boy, "Running off like that really scared us. You can't just go off like that, especially in the middle of a storm where you could've gotten hurt."

"But-"

"Steven." The slight raise in Garnet's tone silenced any protests he may have had. Steven slumped his shoulder and stared down at the ground in a silent admission of defeat.

"Grounded, two weeks," The fusion repeated, her voice going back to her normal monotone. Steven stiffly bowed his head in acknowledgement and turned away from the two gems towards his room.

"Oh dear," He heard Pearl fret, "Garnet, do you think we were a little too-" Steven ignored the rest of their conversation and buried his head under his pillows. It just wasn't fair.

* * *

"Finally." Aura breathed, collapsing down in the soft sand. It had taken her a good portion of the night but she had finally dragged the pod, piece by piece behind the alcove and buried it all in the massive hole she had dug. She had spent half the time trying to figure out how to turn off the navigation system that was screeching warnings to anyone that could hear. She was honestly surprised that she hadn't been found right then and there, considering the racket it had been making. Aura had finally just smashed the thing and stashed it at the bottom of the pit. If she needed it, she could always just fix it later... probably. She'd figure it out.

Aura hissed at the hot ache that was pulsing out from her gem. Priority number one was getting the cuff off and fast. Aura grimaced and examined the weakening glow, she was deteriorating at a quicker rate than she expected.

 _'I've been rather lucky though.'_ Aura mused, _'It could be worse...'_ She remembered Red telling her a few horror stories of gems going crazy because they cracked. The quartz shivered, _'A lot worse...'_

Giving her arm another long suffering look, as if she could will it off, Aura hastily pushed herself up to a standing position. She basked in the warm rays of the sun. Now that it was light out, she could get a better look of the at where she had landed. Looking around, Aura surveyed the area with practiced scrutiny. It would be good to do a little recon while she looked for anything that could be used to break the cuff.

Noting the place where she buried the pod with a strategically placed rock, the quartz carefully looked left and right before silently making her way down the beach in the opposite direction the human chased her from. Keeping to her training, she held herself tight and crouched down as close to the ground as she could without hindering her speed. Aura really didn't like all this open space, it made her feel exposed.

Coming to the end of the beach, she peered around the bend. It was a human settlement, there was a big sign but she couldn't really make out anything but a smattering of letters. Aura analyzed the characters and huffed in barley restrained frustration. What she wouldn't give to be able to read. Aura resisted the urge to punch the stupid face in and moved on.

Aura walked up onto the boardwalk and gazed around the place. There were buildings and signs but no residents, which was odd. Aura ducked behind a bench and peered fervently around for danger. Seeing nothing, she darted around the corner. The quartz looked around in interest, everything was so colorful! It was quite an improvement from the drab facility she and the others had lived in most of their lives.

Rubbing her chin, she scrutinized the billboards. It would be better if she didn't have to search each facility if she didn't need to. The images displayed in front of each facility may be able to tell her what was contained inside the building. If she was smart about it, she would be able to be in and out before the humans noticed that anything was amiss.

Though that didn't seem to help much. Everything here was foreign and she didn't have the slightest clue where to even begin looking. Aura walked along the sidewalk but with each step, she became a little more unsure and a little more afraid of the unknown entities that could be surrounding her at this very moment. Aura shuddered and held her arm a little tighter as she picked up her strides.

She recalled the familiar words that had been pounded into her core, _'Scan your immediate surroundings. take note of anything that could be potential threat to your Diamond. Eliminate it.'_ Her hand twitched as the unspoken command ghosted through her mind. Aura's body shuddered and she resisted the urge to itch her agitated gem.

Looking down the street, something caught her eye. On the top of one of the smaller buildings was a giant circular object with a hole cut through the center. Aura titled her head to the side, it kind of looked like a primitive version of the core cuff. The quartz took a small breath, it was a good place to start if not anything else.

The blue gem hastily made her way down the street, darting between alleyways and trashcans. Slinking up to the window, Aura pressed her face against the smudged glass and looked into the dark interior. She couldn't see much but it looked to be some sort of hardware store. She noted a big glass storage unit full of fluids, most likely fuel or oil.

Behind the counter she could see an assortment of all sorts of goodies. Big glass beakers, different powders and a whole assortment of the cuffs displayed, looking just like the one on top of the building. This was the jackpot! Now all she needed was a way in. If she went around the side of the building there was bound to be some sort of maintenance hatch. She could crawl through and-

"Wow, the only person I've ever seen up this early for donuts is Steven."

Startled by the new voice, Aura stumbled back away from the window. She whipped her head around and assessed her potential enemy. It was a blonde human, female, judging by the tone of voice. Aura focused in on her shirt, the human's attire corresponded with the building's advertising. She was probably the technician who ran the shop.

The blue gem watched carefully as the human female unlocked the door and turned on the lights. Peering through the open door, Aura frowned. It was different from any workshop she had ever been too. There didn't seem to be any tools or anything really pertaining to metal work. Maybe this place specialized specifically in cuffs only? That would make sense considering the variety they seemed to have.

Aura hesitantly lingered between the door and the way back to safety. She wasn't sure what to do, on one hand this could be her chance to get the cuff off but on the other hand it could be some sort of trap...

"You can come in you know." The female called from the back room, "Just give me a second to set up and I'll be right with you."

Making up her mind, Aura stepped through the door, wincing as it noisily shut behind her. No going back now. Aura slowly made her way up to the counter peered down at the array of cuffs on display. They were a lot more colorful and way more clunky compared to the sleek, dull one she was sporting. The style here was probably of an older model. Aura shook her head, honestly it didn't matter. She didn't want to have one, she wanted one off. But it wasn't like she had any credits to pay for the work. She'd have to sneak back in later and steal the equipment. It was probably being held in the back.

"So, what can I get ya?" The human smiled, looking down at her from the counter.

"Just l-looking." Aura hummed softy, straightening herself. "I wasn't planning on getting anything..."

"Up pretty early to not be getting anything." The blond remarked, raising a brow, "Say... you're new around here right? I would've remembered someone with a hair color like yours."

Aura frowned, what was so odd about her hair color? Blue was common. "I arrived yesterday." She spoke, looking up at the technician. "I just wanted to uh..." Aura bit her lip, it would probably be a bad idea to admit she was planning a break in, "...look around the facilities."

"Look around town? In those?" The cashier questioned, eyeing her sandy, ripped clothing in concern.

Aura looked down at her uniform, it was a little ripped and there were quite a few wet, sandy patches where she had been digging hours before, but nothing she couldn't fix once she got full access to gem. Her eyes narrowed as she fervently looked between the cashier's and her own attire.

"Yes, my uniform is sufficient for work, though I will admit it is lackluster in appearance." She answered dryly, carefully masking her uncertainty with politeness. "I apologize for offending." Aura repeated as an afterthought, giving a stiff half bow at the waist. She had no idea what station the technician was ranked, it was better to be polite than sorry. The last thing she needed was to gain any unneeded attention if she didn't have chance of defending herself.

"It's fine!" The blond spoke, hastily waving her hands as an awkward chuckle bubbled up from her bewilderment features, "Really! No need to uh bow or anything like that!"

Akira hummed in acknowledgement and straightened herself, "I wish to inquire about those." She spoke, leaning up over the counter to point at the cuffs behind the behind the technician.

"Donuts?" The cashier questioned, following Aura's finger, "Wow, you must be from pretty far to not know what a donut is." She murmured, "You from Japan or something?"

Aura wrinkled her nose, "What's a 'Japan'?"

"Guess not." The technician smirked, covering her mouth to hide a laugh. "Well, I'll tell you what!" She exclaimed, leaning her elbows down on the counter, "Since you're new and all, how 'bout I get you a fresh one?" The blonde smiled and gestured to the array of cuffs in the display, "There is nothing like a welcome to Beach City than a fresh donut, on the house of course!"

Aura blinked, "Donut?" She repeated softly, pressing her nose against the display window to get a better look. Was donut another name for a core cuff? "On the house?" The quartz frowned in confusion before it dawned on her. She remembered the huge 'donut' as they called it, that was displayed on the roof. "Is that a custom here?" She asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity, "To put things on the roof as a form of greeting?" Aura gave the technician her full attention, the best way to defend against your enemies is to know them of course.

The blonde furrowed her brow before letting out a chuckle, "You're pretty funny!" She smiled and turned, "Now what flavor do you want?" She called, grabbing a paper bag, "We've got-"

Aura's pursed her lips but didn't comment on the fact that it was apparently also a custom here to not answer your questions.

"-Glazed, Vanilla Frosted, Chocolate chip, Chocolate creme, Custard-"

Aura stared wide eyed, as the list went on and on. She had no idea that there were so many different models?! She began to sweat when the the human set her eyes back on her. Scratching her head, the quartz sheepishly grinned, "What would you recommend?"

The blond rubbed her chin in thought and turned to look at the display, "I'm more of a chocolate girl myself but... hmm.." Nodding her head, she grabbed a light colored cuff and set it inside a plastic covering. "You can't go wrong with glazed," the technician stated seriously, sounding as professional as she looked. Aura's brow rose as the wrapped package was expertly slid across the counter, "It's an absolute classic."

Aura gingerly picked the bag up and looked at its contents, Two things clicked in her mind in that moment. One, she had no idea what this 'donut' thing was and two, she didn't want it. The quartz looked up to tell the human as much but the words died in her throat when she caught sight of the expectant look shining in the technician's face. "It's perfect." Aura spoke softly, watching the woman's face lit up, "Thank you very much Miss..."

"Sadie." The blonde supplied, giving her a smile. "And you?"

"Aura," She spoke, shyly waving in greeting.

"Aura, huh?" Sadie repeated, testing out the name. "Well Aura, welcome to Beach City!" The quartz nodded in thanks and made her way out of the store. Walking out onto the sidewalk, she glanced back at the surprisingly friendly shop and down at the bag. The blue gem opened the paper bag and slowly pulled the confection out. She grimaced at the sticky coating and held the pastry up up at eye level.

"Beach City huh?" She muttered, staring at the gooey thing in confusion, "What a strange place..."

* * *

"Two weeks huh." Connie remarked, looking over at Steven, "That's not too bad..."

"It's not the two weeks that's the problem," Steven sighed and kicked at the sand, "The gems don't think I can handle things. They only see me as a kid, not as a part of their team... They're always leaving me behind."

Connie frowned at the dejected look on Steven's face, "Hey," She spoke softly, looking into his features, "You're a pretty good Crystal Gem to me. And besides! I don't think that they exclude you from the team, you're just as much as a Crystal Gem as the rest of them!"

Steven sighed, "I don't know..." He sunk back into the sand and looked down at his gem, "I can barley even summon my shield, let alone do all the stuff my mom could do..."

Connie furrowed her brow and looked into at his defeated position. "Steven, you can do a ton of stuff!" She encouraged, "You just need to show them what you're made of."

"But how am I supposed to do that?" Steven questioned, looking over at Connie, "How can I prove myself if they won't even give me a chance."

"Hmm..." Connie stared at Steven with a pensive look on her face. Suddenly she jumped to her feet, "We need to find this mystery person now more than ever!" She stated eagerly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, "If the Crystal Gems see that you are responsible and were right about last night then maybe they'll see you as more of an equal!"

Steven's look wavered for a moment before his lips curled into a small smile, "Maybe you're right." He spoke, his voice barley more than a murmur, "If I find this mystery person by myself then I can show those guys that I'm a Crystal Gem too!" He jumped up and struck a pose, feeling more confidant than ever.

"Not 'I' but 'we'. Connie spoke, throwing her bag off of her back. "I'm not going to let my partner go off by themselves." Connie cheekily grinned, "A shield needs their sword after all." Steven lit up as she pulled out an assortment of things from the bag. Two hats, plaid capes, magnifying glasses, notebooks and to top it all off, a bubble blowing pipe. "If we're gonna solve this mystery we need to do this right!" Shoving the hat onto Steven's head, Connie dawned her own cloak and thinking cap, "Lead away Mr. Universe!" She yelled, striking a pose, "To the scene of the crime!"

Steven beamed and grabbed the girl's outstretched hand, together they took off down the the beach. Dr. Connie and Mr. Universe were on the case!

 **Author's Note:** I'd like like to thank everyone who favorited, followed or reviewed. You guys make my day! Reviews are love as always. And don't forget! All rights of Steven Universe belong to Rebecca Sugar.


	3. Dumpsters and Detectives

The Sunshine Experiment

Chapter 3

Dumpsters and Detectives

Aura sneaked her way down the side walk, ducking in between alleyways and under trashcans. Peeking her head out if her new hiding spot, she looked furtively around for any threats. Seeming none, the quartz leaned up over the top of the trash can and locked eyes on her current target.

It was a formidable building, dark grey with glowing signs attached to the front with fancy script scrawled in neon print. The inside was dark but Aura could see the inside was filled with numerous machines with similar scroll on the sides of the irregularly shaped boxes. Her eyes lit up in glee as she spied the hammer resting against one of the metal box things. A machine shop was just what she needed. The mechanic probably wouldn't mind if she borrowed a few tools.

After all, they are just lying around. Whose to say what happened to them if a few were 'mysteriously' misplaced?

Leaving her paper bag behind the corner, just inside the alleyway, she took a deep breath and ducked into the dark building. Aura squinted till her eyes adjusted to the darker lighting. No one was there and the gemling relaxed slightly. The blue quartz walked around, the machines flashed colors of light seemingly at random. The quartz eyed each of them in confusion, becoming more and more baffled as she walked around. There were no tools or machinery that she could recognize. Hammers were attached to the strange metal boxes, there were no wrenches, welding torches, clamps or even any drills. Aura frowned and scuttled around a small machine with small metal claw thing inside it. Pressing her face against the glass, She examined the rigged structure above the seemingly bottomless pit of stuffed animals... really fluffy stuffed animals... really CUTE stuffed animals. Shrugging her shoulders, Aura let out a small sigh. She couldn't understand what the purpose of such a thing was, it seemed pointless.

Even the mint green one in the back with the little hat was pointless too... no matter how gentleman like he looked.

Tearing her eyes away, she abandoned the crane device. Aura walked up to a bigger console and examined the strange meat like remotes attached to the machine through wires. She poked the rubbery surface and leaned forward to sniff it, it didn't smell like flesh, how facetious. Aura stomped her foot and frustration and scowled, it seemed that the humans had set up this entire place in some sort of code. Nothing here seemed of use-

"CAN YOU BEAT THE MEAT!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, SHAKE THAT BACON!"

Aura yelped and jumped away from the machine that had just yelled at her. She stumbled back and fell into another machine. Her arm went through the steering wheel, twisting it forward around her wrist.

"ROAD RAGE!"

Her heart pounded, She tugged against the grip but her arm wouldn't move. The consol swirled to life, flashing things of color and light, blinding her. She froze, the colors were making her dizzy and the music from the meat was strangely compelling her to move. Her head pounded and the flashing lights was making her sick.

That horrible melody began to play, over and over. Aura clutched her head, the strange beat was compelling her.

Blood roared in her ears. Her foot twitched as of it wanted to join in on the madness. Aura choked, memories pounded to the forefront of her mind. She could see those five black eyes gleaming hungrily at her through the containment field, as they eagerly awaited their next victim. It grinned in the light, fangs gleaned and color flashed.

 _'You ready? This is a little thing we like to call-'_

"No!" Aura flew forward in a fit of panic, crying out in as the monstrous machine held her trapped. Her arm felt like fire, pain ripped through her shoulder. Aura screamed as it's mechanical jaws of death banged the core cuff and scrapped across the edge of her gem. Smashing her elbow through the screen, Aura leveraged herself up and wildly thrashed her arm away, taking the steering wheel with it. She examined the thing in horror and twisted her arm free and threw it across the room, not caring as it smashed through another sheet of glass.

The blue quartz looked widely around in a fit of panic. "It's a death trap!" She spat, cowering as more of those mechanical beasts came to life. It all made sense! The tools left out in the open, seemingly unguarded. The stuffed beings in the silly crane box, the deceptively bright sign. It was all a ploy to lure her into a false sense of security and trap her! She covered her ears and tried in vain to block out their words of hate.

"Good! Move that meat, that's the beat!"

Aura whipped her head around at the metal monster that had sprung the trap against her. "No! It's not good!" She hissed, a bout of rage clouding her mind. A burst of energy surged through her and she jumped on top of the consol. The quartz grabbed main speaker attached at the top and twisted, the metal groaned but didn't give way. Gritting her teeth, the quartz tugged at it with all her might. With a final snap the large black sound system came tumbling off the machine, causing Aura to stumble. She fell backwards, plummeting off the side and landed top of another consol. The machine tethered before falling on its front, causing a domino effect. Consol after consol fell, smashing into the floor until all that was left standing was a glass counter in the back of the store.

Aura climbed to her feet and surveyed the room with glee. The blue gem stomped her foot over the pieces of broken glass and metal. Her heart was pumping and her mind was clearer than it had been in a long while. Aura panted and straightened her shoulders, glaring down at the enemies slain before her.

"I own you!" The blue gem roared, standing over the slew of broken machines with a sense of accomplishment. She should feel proud! Taking down an entire army of evil doers by herself was no easy task!

"Hey! What do you you're doing?!" A deep masculine voiced raged from the back of the store.

Aura whipped her head around and caught sight of the evil mastermind. She beared her teeth and crouched down into an attacking position. He was the one who had rigged up this concoction of death! Who knows what other evil plans he had laid out?

"W-What..."

Aura smirked at his horrified face as he caught sight of his downed creations. "Did you really think you could get me that easy, Mustached Mechanic of Doom?" She sneered, taking note of the impressive amount of facial hair. Looking into his eyes, she viciously twisting her foot into the false meat. She crunched the wiring under her heel and kicked the remains towards him, watching as the sparking mess rolled to hit his ankles.

The man, hesitantly touched his mustache and looked around in bewilderment. His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the trashed consol she was standing next to. "Again?!" His eye twitched and his body shook as he gazed around at the ruined arcade, "You're another one of the Crystal Gems aren't you?!" He seethed, taking in her appearance, focusing in on her blue hair. "I just had Meat Beat Mania fixed!"

Swoosh!

Aura ducked as a broom went flying over her eyes widening in fear as he wielded the cleaning implement with the skill and dexterity of a warrior. "You and your freaky friends are going to get it this time!"

She blocked the hard bristles with her forearm, skidding back from his enraged swipes. Her eyes widened and she took a small step back, _'I've underestimated his skill!'_ Aura grit her teeth, She needed to regroup and rethink her strategy.

The blue quartz ducked under another blow and dove over another smashed machine. Keeping low and out of sight, Aura army crawled under a few downed machines, making way to the exit.

 _'Almost there!'_ She affirmed, carefully avoiding a smattering of sharp metal and sparking wires. The blue quartz turned her head and the sight she beheld broke her heart. There, stuck inside the overturned crane box was the green bear. The world seemed to stop as their gazes met. His face was pushed against the glass and his arms out stretched out in almost hopeless soulful black eyes seemed to be pleading with her, begging for help. Tears sprung to Aura's eyes and she couldn't help but feel for her fellow comrade, _"I'll save you!'_ She promised, locking eyes with the captive plush. The poor bear must of been a prisoner of the mustache man. _'Whatever it takes!'_

Mustering up a bout of courage, the blue quartz sprung up from her hiding spot, "Ha! Missed me!" Crossing her eyes, she blew the man a big raspberry before making a beeline for her trapped comrade.

"Stop right there! Just wait till I get a hold of your parents!"

Aura took a running start and kicked the speaker she had torn off earlier. It flew through the air and smashed into the crane machine. A victorious shattering of glass sounded out and plushies rained down from above. Picking the hat wearing bear out of the broken glass, she held the mint escapee under her arm and dove out of the way as the broom came flying down on the mess.

"Get back here! Pay for what you broke!"

Bursting out through the open door, she skidded around the corner. Aura glanced behind, only to see the enraged figure barrel towards her. Racing away scene of the crime, Aura high tailed it down the side walk away from the evil mechanic of doom with her new comrade dragging behind her.

* * *

"Okay just a little more- Steven don't move! Wait... okay good!"

Steven looked back, "Is it on Connie?" He asked looking back at the camera.

She nodded and gave a thumbs up, "You're good to go Stev- I mean Mr. Universe."

Clearing his throat, Steven threw his cloak over his shoulder, pulled a pipe out of his pocket. Sticking it in his mouth he gently blew into it and watched as bubbles caught the wind and flew down the beach. "It is one thing to mortify curiosity but it is another thing to conquer it." Steven spoke, turning his body to face the camera, dramatically looking off into the distance. "But when questions are asked, and stones start rolling and uh..."

Connie shook her head, shaking the camera with her rapid movements, "No Steven!" She stage whispered, cupping her free hand to her mouth, "It goes, 'You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and-"

"Oh yeah!" He snapped his fingers, letting a goofy grin overtake his serious demeanor. Clearing his throat he schooled his features and puffed on his bubble pipe. "You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others and uh...?" Steven frowned thoughtfully, "Something about birds with rules and, uh... wasn't there something else... queers?"

He shrugged his shoulders and came running up to the camera, "But anyways, this is crime scene one!" He beamed, shoving his face into the lenses, "And I am here with with my faithful sidekick-"

"Partner!"

"- I mean uh partner, Dr. Connie~!" Steven declared, readjusted his old english hat. Connie turned the video camera around and shyly waved into the frame.

Blushing, she pulled at her collar and half covered her face with her hands, "Do we really have to video tape ALL of it?" She murmured, looking back Steven, "I mean, couldn't we just write down the evidence?"

The curly haired boy lightly grabbed the still filming camcorder from Connie's outstretched hand. "Ronaldo says that evidence needs to be documented with video or its not real." Steven affirmed, "He said that the government spy network can manipulate hand written data to cover up the truth or something or other like that... I kinda got lost after he started talking about the sneeple mind control techniques. But he's a really good information getter! He has a blog and everything!"

"Wait... You mean the crazy blonde guy who got banned from the mini golf for-"

"Yeah! He's a professional!" Steven beamed, "Ronaldo is pretty hard core about sneeple."

Connie bit her lip, "I don't know what sneeple are but I don't think that qualifies as very professional. And well uh.." Her ears burned, "I'm not to good in front of cameras..." She mumbled, averting her friends eyes.

"Nonsense!" Steven smiled and tugged Connie in front of the camera, "You're a pretty smart and fun! You can't look bad on camera if you don't look bad in person! There's no reason to be nervous!"

Her face slowly darkened to a dark pink hue and she clasped her hands behind her back, "Well if you say so..."

Steven pulled out a magnifying glass and turned the camera toward them both, "As I was saying! This is crime scene number one!" He exclaimed, gesturing to the empty beach surrounding the two of them. "It was here last night that a mysterious figure vanished into thin air~!" Keeping a tight grip on the camcorder, he swung it around and zoomed in on the sand they were standing on. "Dr. Connie here will be explaining the linguistics-"

"I think you mean logistics Steven." Connie interjected, taking her small notebook out of her pocket.

"That's what up said, linguistics."

Connie blinked, "Never mind." She cleared her throat, "We will be investigating the case of the- what was it Steven?"

"Vanishing vocalist!"

She nodded her head, "Right, the Case of the Vanishing Vocalist~" Connie said in a sinister tone, staring directly into the face of the camera. Steven grinned and gave a thumbs up and gestured for her to keep going.

Flipping open her note book, the dark haired girl pulled a pencil from behind her ear. "Today's weather, partly cloudy minimal wind coming from the-" Connie stuck her finger in her mouth and held it up to the wind, "east maybe north east." She scribbled a few things down and began to slowly pace around the area, stopping periodically to examine seemingly random things.

Steven followed her around with a sort of confused look on his face, "Um.. Connie?" He inquired, shuffling his feet through the sand, "What does the weather have to do with finding clues?"

"Everything is important Steven! From the weather to the types of rocks to the direction of the wind. Everything plays a key part and is all interconnected. To get a better picture we need to look at everything. You can't understand what's going on if you don't have to whole picture." Connie stared into Steven's blank face, "It's kind of like jigsaw puzzle. If you don't have all the pieces, you can't get the finished picture."

"Oh! I get it!" He beamed, "But uh, how are we gonna look at everything?"

Connie swerved her head around, it was a pretty big area. "I think we should split up." She suggested, looking to her partner, "I'll look over by the cliff side over there." She said, pointing to the rocks. "And you can look over there," Connie readjusted her hat, "That way we can cover more ground."

Steven grinned, "That's a great idea Dr. Connie!" He zoomed the camera for a close up to her face, "As expected of an investigator! We'll find evidence in no time!" She blushed and stepped back a bit from the camera.

The detective turned to the rocky cliff side, her cape fluttered in the ocean breeze. Smoothly flicking the magnifying glass out of her pocket, She began the process of sweeping the area. Nothing, no tracks or anything really striking her as evidence. Not that she was surprised, it had rained pretty hard last night. Any foot prints would be long gone by now.

Jumping on top of a particularly large rock she surveyed the area... Nothing.

"CONNIE! Connie look!"

The dark haired girl in question spun around, "You find something?!" Her eyes lit up and she eagerly jumped of the rock and faced up the curly haired boy.

"Look at these cool rocks!" Steven grinned and opened his palm which contained a colorful variety of shells and smooth stones.

"Those are pretty cool..." Connie agreed losing a little bit of her previous excitement, she had thought he had found something. "But I don't think they can be used for evidence..."

Steven looked down at his palm and then back filming camera held in the other. "Oh..." A ray of sunshine, broke through the clouds and suddenly a blue glittering light hit his eyes. Steven squinted and held his hand up to block the blinding beam, "What about those!"

Connie jerked her head around and followed his pointed finger with her eyes. Right next to the rock she had been standing on, slightly buried in the sand was a small collection of very sparkly and very blue shells. Bending down, She carefully examined the shell shards under her magnifying glass, angling it so the shimmering surface gleamed in the sunlight.

Connie had never seen a shell that color before. She gently brushed her hand over the surface. Her brow rose as the blue sand- no dust- particles?- came off with her thumb.

Steven got down in his knees beside her and zoomed the camera in on Connie's hands. "So what do we have Dr. Connie?"

"Strange, very strange indeed Mr. Universe." Connie spoke, getting into character. She pulled a small plastic baggie and a pair of salad tongs out of her knapsack. "In my experience as an investigator I have never come across something as unique as this!" She enthusiastically explained, wiping her fingers on the edge of the top of the open baggie. The camera zoomed in as the dust fell lightly into the interior of the plastic sandwich baggie. She carefully lifted the shell with the things and set it inside the plastic.

Steven grinned and maneuvered himself closer, focusing in on the girl's face. "Does this mean what I think it means!" Mr. Universe asked excitedly.

Dr. Connie beamed, "Yes it does!" Gathering up the rest of the shells she and Steven turned to the camera and struck poses. "We have our first clue!"

* * *

"Do you see anything?" Aura hissed, looking up at the mint green plushie standing guard. The lone sentry said nothing, keeping his eyes trained on the outside world as he peered through the small crack in the dumpster covering.

"Typical." The blue quartz scoffed, shooting the bear a mean look. "I know I said that we weren't friends, but as your temporary ally the LEAST you could do was answer me. You won't even tell me your name?

The bear said nothing, it's dark eyes seemed to look straight through her. Aura crossed her arms and scowled, "What, is it some sort if secret?" She let out a groan and slumped grumpily down against a particularly bad smelling trash bag.

He again had no answer for her.

The blue gem pondered the matter, shifting slightly on a trash bag. "Maybe you don't have a name...?" She asked, her tense features softening. Aura scootched herself across a few trash bags and plunked herself next to the bear, mindful of the strange funky smelling goo oozing down the side of the the dumpster. Tentatively, she reached her hand out but hesitated at the last moment. "May I?" She asked delicately. When the plushie gave no objection, she gently grasped the tag on the ear and held it up to the stream of light that was spilling into the interior.

A ragged breath escaped her and her arms shook. "A serial number." She spat, disgust creeping into her voice. "Of course." Her jaw tightened and she ran her thumb over the brightly coloured label. Aura hesitantly shifted her left hand to the back of her neck and lightly traced her fingers over the sensitive skin just at the base of her skull. She could still feel the scars. "Why would it be any different on earth... It's the same everywhere else. " The gemling squeezed her eyes shut, and bit her teeth down on the fist that was just begging to punch something. "We're just a number to them... That's all they'll ever see us as." She glared down at the tag and her free hand reflexively moved to rest on the golden shard hanging around her neck.

She looked back at the mint bear that seemed to sagging where it sat. Her nostrils flared in anger, "No more!" Aura spat, slamming her open palm against the trash bag under her, uncaring as it's contents spattered on and around her. Crushing the paper beneath her grip, she ripped the tag off the soft mint ear and bit through the plastic.

Holding the crushed numbers up at eye level and threw the was of trash behind her. "You're with us now!" She declared fiercly, giving the stuffed animal a triumphant look. "Red won't mind, I just know it!" She held the bear close. Her eyes brightened and she looked at her suave looking companion. "You're gonna need a name..." She frowned, "It's gotta be something that fits you..."

Aura scratched her head and rubbed at the red sauce staining the ends of her hair. "Greenie?" She suggested hesitantly, the bear seemed to deflate in her arms. "Yeah, you're right, doesn't at fit you at all..."

The green stuffed animal said nothing as she sat him back at his post. Aura let out a sigh and wiped her nose. "This is hard." She muttered, scratching at the cuff covering her gem. "You got any ideas?" The blue gem asked, shrugging her shoulders. The bear suddenly tumbled down off its perch, almost leaping into her lap

The quartz rose a brow, "What are you-" Not a moment later, the outside of the dumpster began to tremble. Eyes wide, Aura grabbed the plushie and dove back behind few foul smelling bags rotting behind her.

The top was slammed open with a thud and Aura's heart jumped to her throat. She kept a death grip on her companion and tucked herself as tightly as she could in her hiding spot. She didn't dare take a breath.

She heard the rustling and a muffled voice. A few of those foul smelling bags sailed past her and sagged against the back wall. A violent tremor shook the bag Aura was hiding behind and she let out sharp staggering gasp of surprise as a bag sailed overhead and spattered open, spilling unmentionable contents over her head and back. She covered her mouth with both hands and her jaw dropped open in a silent expression of disgust and horror as the luke-warm, greasy sludge dripped down the back of her uniform and soaked into the material. More trash was dumped into the opening before slamming shut. Keeping still, She waited another minute or so before moving from her position. Aura clawed at the offensive goop, flinging off as much as she could. "That was close!" The quartz breathed, sagging against a plastic bag. Aura reluctantly lifted her hand and felt along her crusty hair. The blue gem grimaced, the smell left much to be desired but she kept her complaints to herself. It was a small price to pay considering the Mustaced Mechanic of Doom could have found them.

Aura released her death grip on her friend, "Thanks." She spoke, gently removing a rusted tin can from off the bear's hat. "If you weren't scouting it out, we would of been-" Aura sucked in a breath and froze. Her eyes lit up, "You know," she murmured, a smiling creeping up her face, "Every recon team needs a scout. I'm the stand in leader for Red, I can't do everything on my own..." She scrutinized the bear over, taking in his cool minty fur and suave hat. "You're definitely the bear to do it. You got the looks, the style and natural skill!"

Aura grinned flicked his hat, "What do you say?! Wanna be a scout?" She squeezed the little bear's body close. The plushie's black eyes buldged and it's fluffy arms rose into the air almost in a sign of agreement. She let out an excited cheer and pumped herher arms up into the air, "Welcome to the team!" She beamed, bumping fists with the newly inducted member. A breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened, "I've got it." She whispered, the lightbulb almost visible above her head, "Scout. What about the name Scout?!"

The bear said nothing and Aura took it as a sign of agreement. A light laugh escaped her and she pulled the minty comrade into an embrace. "What's cooler than a scout named Scout!"

* * *

 **Authors Note:** Wow, I haven't updated in a little while. Sorry about that! If any of you were confused by what Steven was saying in the beginning or offended by the word 'queer', I was making a joke of a few of the most famous lines from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If you've never read them I would recommend the books, it's been a while since I read them but from what I recall they were pretty good. Just out of curiosity what kind of stuffed animals did you guys have and what sort of names did you give them? Don't even try and lie to me. ;) I know that almost all of you still have one. Mine was a small brown and white hound named Louie.

Reviews are loved and appreciated! I really want to hear from you guys! Reviews keep me motivated to write and I really appreciate any and all feedback, thoughts or just general reactions. Also, the next chapter might take a little while to get out because I am crazy busy with school. Disclaimer: All rights to Steven Universe belong to Rebecca Sugar.


	4. Cameras and Crystal Gems

The Sunshine Experiment

Chapter Four

Cameras and Crystal Gems

"So uh... what is it?" Steven asked, giving a curious look at the sparkly particles. Moving back a few steps, he zoomed the camcorder out so Connie was filling up the frame.

Connie flickered her eyes between the camera down at the plastic bag swinging in between her fingers, "Well Mr. Universe," She chuckled nervously, her brow knitting together in thought, "That, is a very good question indeed! It seems to be some uh..." Wrinkling her nose, Connie danged the shiny evidence in front her face. Her eyes narrowed and her chin jutted out in hard thinking. "I have no idea." Connie finally answered, shrugging her shoulders. "You?"

Steven scratched his head in thought. He grasped the bag in his hand and held it up to the sky. Sticking his tongue out of his mouth, he handed the rolling camcorder over to his partner and pulled his own magnifying glass out of his pocket. Holding the evidence up to the light, he shook the bag of shells up and down. Blue particles swirled around in the air filled plastic, looking very much like a snow globe. "Hmm... Interesting indeed Dr. Connie." Mr. Universe spoke gravely, stroking his nonexistent goatee. "Though the mystery is still upon us I may have an idea on how to get us one step closer to solving it."

"Really!" Connie asked in excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Do you know what the blue stuff is?"

"No..." Steven shook his head, "But I know someone that might!" Tossing the evidence bag to his partner he grabbed her hand and began to pull her down the beach.

Connie stumbled in surprise at the sudden yank of her arm. "Wait who?" She called over the wind, quirking her eyebrows.

"It's a surprise!" He beamed, looking over his shoulder. "We'll have to hurry if we're gonna beat the sun! Connie turned her eyes toward the sky in surprise. Already the sun was lowering into the horizon and was just tinged with a pastel orange and pink. The clouds swirled in a big mass along the top of the distant sea. She tilted her head, it's fuzzy edges made it kind of look like a tennis- Connie double-taked, tennis practice! Her eyes widened in realization and she skidded to a stop. She completely forgot! Tearing her eyes back from to the quickly darkening horizon, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. Connie grimaced, four messages and one missed call. It five after now, if she got a ride home, she might be able to make the tail end of practice.

Connie blew a hot breath from her mouth and rubbed her brow in frustration. She could hear her mom's voice in her ears, scolding her with the age old lecture about the importance of practice and good habits along with consequences that wasted time would have on the future.

"You okay Connie?"

Steven's voice broke through her thoughts. Looking up into her friend's sparkling face, the tension automatically left her. ' _Time you're enjoying can't really be considered wasted can it._ ' Connie mused, _'I mean Steven needs my help. I could just skip-'_ She blinked in surprise and her brow furrowed. Connie had never really considered the option of not going, she'd had many fleeting thoughts it before but... A mixture of uncertainty ran through her, she had never in her life skipped anything. Not school, not practice, not even once! It wasn't something she did, it wasn't something she was supposed to do. Her phone began to buzz, it was her mom calling again. Connie looked down at the ringing cell and back at Steven. Biting her lip, She blew out a breath of hot air and brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes. It just wouldn't feel right...

"I gotta go." Connie sighed. "Tennis practice. I'm pretty late as it is." She yanked off her hat and cloak, "Here! Keep these!" Connie hurriedly shoved the clothing items into her friend's hands. Shrugging off the knapsack, Connie tossed it into his arms. "Same time tomorrow!" She grinned, waving her hand in parting. Putting the phone to her ear, the girl ran off before Steven could even formulate a proper response.

Steven fumbled and bit down on the fabric of the bag so it wouldn't fall out of his arms. "Oh, okay. See you tomorrow!" The boy mumbled out through the straps of the bag. Sticking the camcorder in the side pouch of the knapsack, he threw it over his shoulder and made his way down the stretch of sand toward the beach house.

* * *

"Coast clear! I repeat back area is clear, do you read, Scout?" Aura hissed from her crouched position behind the metal trash can. Scout said nothing but kept his head peered around the alley way into the streets. Aura glanced into the darkening streets before somersault diving across the exposed path, cringing as she splashed through a puddle of water left over from last night's storm. Peeking over her shoulder she ducked her head around the corner. Humans were crawling all over the place, walking along the sidewalks and around the streets. Aura scowled in annoyance and fervently scanned the compromised area for any sort of coverage.

"I don't think we can go this was, can you think of anything else?" She muttered bitterly, glancing back at Scout. A swift breeze ruffled through her long, tangled locks and Scout fell back against the wet asphalt. In another gust of wind he rolled back and splashed in a dirty puddle next to the dumpster they had previously exited. Aura snorted, "Don't be a wimp. We can't just hide in there. Now come on, help me think." She jumped back from the alleyway entrance and scotched herself next to her mint companion. Picking the sopping wet plushie up from the scummy water, she watched as droplets rippled out from the water and slowly stilled. ' _Di-hydrogen monoxide is weird.'_ Aura mused, the once contorted image was now exactly as it had been before. There was barely any of it on Home World, only used a lubrication in a few of the older types of machines that were used in the It was really strange how the substance seemed to restore itself. But it was plentiful here, it fell out of the atmosphere and replenished itself somehow.

Aura blocked the light with her hands and peered up into the heavens. How did the liquid formulate up there anyways? From what Red had told her and the stories Sun had spoke of, apparently it fell from the sky constantly. Aura shivered slightly to herself as she thought about last night. Was the construction of di-hydrogen monoxide always that loud?

A muted rumbling broke her thoughts and a big metal vehicle came tearing down the street in front of the alleyway. Aura reflexively pushed herself up against the wall and peered hesitantly around, it seemed everything here was loud.

 _'I need to get higher.'_ Aura resolved, squeezing the remaining water from Scout's legs. It would be smart to get to a higher vantage point so she could at least get a mental map of the general area. If there was anything she had learned from Red over the years, it was to use the environment to your advantage. A gust of wind whipped down the alley way and caught onto Scout's hat and blew it high into the air. It gently fell and Aura jumped up to snatch it but the another burst of wind carried it over and it snagged into a broken crevice near the top of the opposing building. She squinted up and sighed, just her luck. Lolling her head over to her partner, she could feel the stare coming at her from those seedy little eyes.

"Don't give me that look," She huffed, crossing her arms. "It's not _my_ fault you lost your own hat!" Scout continued his look and finally Aura sighed and put her hands in front of her in a gesture of mock defense. "All right, all right." The gem spoke with a bit of a resigned tone as her eyes moved up to settle on the snagged hat that was flopping gently in the wind near the top of the building. "Sheesh, I'll get it all right?"

Gripping the fur along his neck she hung onto the extra fluff in her right hand and stood up. They had decided that the beach was to exposed after what had when she had first arrived. It would not be a good idea to go back to the place those gems were. She had seen first hand what Home World did to traitors and defectives… what they could be doing to Red right now. Aura clenched her fists, _'Stop it.'_ She commanded, taking a quiet breath to quell her racing mind. She needed to stay on the bright side of things.

Placing a hand on the brick wall, she felt along the grooves, they were shallow but the strange material seemed to have a good grip against her uniform. Aura titled her head back and stared up at the intimidating wall before her. _'I can make it.'_ She decided, stepping back to get a running start. With a huff, Aura threw herself toward the brick. Her feet pushed up against the brick and she used the speed to push herself up the wall. At the height of her momentum when she was just about to fall back she kicked off the wall and flipped back towards the opposing building.

She felt herself twist as gravity pulled her down towards the earth. Grunting, Aura reached out and snatched the hat off the window sill before impacting into the wall beside it. Using her hand to steady herself, she slid the rest of the way down to the ground. "There we go." She muttered, placing the hat snugly on her friends head. Stooping down, she felt along the bottoms of her feet. The material on the soles of her feet were slightly ripped from where it had chaffed the against the wall.

 _Click!_

"I knew it!" An obnoxious voice called from the end of the alley. "I knew that there were rock people invading the surface!" The human gave a sinister laugh and stepped menacingly towards her, "You can't hide from me!"

Aura let out a cry as a bright flash blinded her. Putting her hand up to her eye, she squinted and caught sight of a silhouette in the sunlight. It was a human, no doubt by his stocky figure and attire that was like the other humans she had seen. ' _Compromised!'_ The quartz panicked, tripping back into the side of the dumpster.

"What is this?!" The man spoke, gesturing towards Scout, "Another accomplice I see!"

' _No!'_ Aura's fists clenched and she gave the human a scathing look, that was her partner! A deep throated growl rose up from the gem though the human didn't seem to notice as he aimed his weapon towards Scout.

"Hiding itself among the huggable toys that children cherish?! Clever, but not clever-"

Diving forward, Aura snatched her companion away before the ominous shutter and flash sounded out just to the right of them. She blew past the human, making sure to shoulder him into a wall while she passed him. The quartz burst into the streets, diving over car hoods and under people's legs as she raced on all fours away from the enemy.

"Hey wait!"

Aura tucked her head down into her chest and pushed even harder. Everything was a blur around her and the only thing she could see was the blue light that was blazing out from her aching gem.

* * *

Steven hummed as he walked down the street to the car wash, watching as the particles in the bag stirred with every step he took, moving to its own little beat. His dad knew almost everything- well everything important. If anyone knew what the blue particles was it would be him.

"How could you not see, Peedee!" A loud voice echoed across the street, "The truth is right before your eyes!"

Steven turned his head and watched as Peedee pushed the video camera that Ronaldo had shoved into his face away. "Listen bro, all I see is a blurry, blue light and a dirty stuffed bear."

"That's not a stuffed bear! That's a rock person in disguise! How could you be so blind to the truth that is right before you!" Ronaldo exclaimed, shoving the video feed once again into his little brother's face. "How could a 'stuffed bear' move that fast?! It has to be a rock person!"

"Or~" Peedee emphasized, once again shoving the camera away, "It was an animal that you spooked. What were you doing in the dumpster anyways?" He asked, stepping away from the repulsive smell that was coming from the trash covered blogger.

"I am not afraid to explore the unexplored wilds for the truths that the rest of the world chooses to be ignorant to." Ronaldo sniffed indignantly, brushing a few strands of limp noodles off of his shoulder. "The truth has to be uncovered and I- the dashing and courageous Ronaldo will stop at nothing to uncover the weird phenomenons of our times!"

"Yeah, _okay_." Peedee scoffed, " The last time you said that you ended up-"

His voice faded into the distance as Steven walked further and further away from the Fry Shop and towards his intended destination. Turning the corner, he raced down the block towards the wash. "Dad! Dad!" Steven called, running up alongside the van.

"What's up bud?" A voice rang out from behind. Turning, Steven threw himself excitedly into his dad's arms.

"So me and Connie were investigating a mystery and we found this really cool thing and we wanted you to tell us what it was 'cause Connie was talking about the importance of rocks and the sky and stuff but we didn't know what it was and-"

"Woah! Slow down there kiddo!" Greg chuckled, ruffling his son's hair. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Steven took a deep breath, "Well Connie and I were investigating a mystery and we found-"

"Wait, an investigation?" Greg questioned, moving to sit comfortably in the back of the van, "Investigating what?"

"A singer that went missing last night?!" Steven exclaimed excitedly, hopping in the back of the van to sit across from his dad.

"I didn't hear about that…" Greg muttered thoughtfully, "Who went missing? I know most of the musicians in Beach City?"

"I… don't know…" Steven spoke, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "We don't really know who they are, all I know is that they have a nice voice and apparently don't like ice cream," Steven muttered the last part to himself with a distinct frown before shaking his head, "But Connie and I found a clue!"

Greg frowned, "Do you have a picture or something?" Steven shook his head, "If you don't know who you're looking for then how do you know that they went missing?" Greg asked, scratching his head, "Are the gems working on this too?"

Greg was puzzled at the forlorn look his son gave him. "It's kind of a long story…" Steven murmured, rubbing his arm.

"Well I got time!" Greg smiled, leaning back against a chewed up seat, "Why don't you do your old man a solid and start at the very beginning?"

* * *

"So you two are planning on finding this thing that you saw?" Greg spoke, giving the guitar in his hands a few strums. "I don't know Stew-ball, it could be dangerous or something."

"That's exactly what they said!" Steven exclaimed, "I'm supposed to do all these great things, but then I'm not allowed to fight with the rest of the gems." Steven sighed, "How am I supposed to be a Crystal Gem if I can't do something as simple as a mission? How am I supposed to be like mom..." He slumped against the side of the van and stared down at glittering gem just barely peeking out from under his shirt.

"Listen sport," Greg spoke after a long moment, "I don't know much about gem stuff, but I did know a lot about your mom." He set down the guitar and took a small breath, "She was kind, brave and fiercely loyal," He began, catching Steven's attention, "She had big curly pink hair but an even bigger love for life. Sure, you don't have all the same powers and the crazy curls," Greg pulled his son into a side hug, "But what you do have is guts, and the biggest heart out of anyone out there!" He exclaimed, putting a finger on Steven's chest, "And that's all that really matters! You are Steven Quartz Universe, someone who is just as kind and loving and wonderful in his very own special way. So stop worrying about being Rose Quartz," Greg spoke, lifting Steven's gaze away from the gem in his belly button, "And just be you."

"But what if just being me isn't good enough?" Steven quietly spoke, pulling his knees up to his chest.

Greg shook his head, " You've always been good enough, more than enough. And I can guarantee that if you ask any one of the gems they would tell you the exact same thing." Steven said nothing for a long moment and Greg took a small breath, "Have I ever told you the story of the first time I ever played up on stage?" Steven shook his head and Greg grinned, "Well this'll be a treat then!" He barked out a laugh and scooped up his guitar, "It was about thirty years ago, give or take a few decades." Greg began, tuning the string on the acoustic, "It was a little cold but I sure didn't feel it! I had missed the bus so I was running a bit late, you should've seen me Steven!" He laughed, slapping his palm against the strings as he moved into a new set of chords, "Running down the sidewalk with all my amps and speakers, I was a total-"

* * *

Aura's eyes narrowed in thought, "Crystal Gems, huh?" She murmured, absently wiping away sludge from her gem. They must of been a scouting team that had tracked her to earth- albeit not any team she had ever heard of before. She shivered as the team of gems flashed through her mind's eye. Her throat closed in as the pearl's gem flashed and the red gem's stare pierced through her. She didn't know what kind of gem she was facing but to own a pearl meant that she was facing someone pretty high ranked.

It had been a while since she had escaped from the settlement to the beach, not that she had wanted to back track but in the heat of the moment she had panicked and gone back to the place that was most familiar to her. Aura and Scout had stood in front of the remains of their pod, looking down at the mound they had buried it in and watched carefully as no one seemed to follow them down the beach. After a little bit, the duo had wandered up over the sand banks and after a bit of exploring they found themselves at the top of a hill that overlooked the entirety of this 'Beach City'. The gem people watched for a while and carefully noted different areas that could be later explored for anything salvageable. What confused her was the way everything here was so, so different. Considering a scouting team was here- she was surprised she hadn't seen much in the way of any sort of gem technology. Everything was just as primitive as Red had said it would be.

Walking up to the edge of the embankment, Aura sat herself along the cliff side and let her legs dangle over the edge. She sat Scout next to her and pulled the plushie close. The sun had basically set and the reddish, pink hues of the sky had long since faded to a deeper twilight. The wind whipped through her tangled mane but Aura didn't really bother to try and fix it.

The view was breathtaking and Aura deeply inhaled. The smell of something sweet filled the air and she couldn't help but reach a hand out and try and grasp the few petals that were blowing around her in the wind. Millions of colors bloomed in the sky and settled thickly on the horizon line. Aura was memorized by the constant changing of colors, she'd never seen this before- the facility never ever gave her such a view.

Looking down into the city, she watched as the bright, copper shining bricks faded to a cool purple and the brilliant light seemed to disappear with each passing moment as the ball of fire fell beyond the horizon line. The gem once again toed the edge of the cliff side and subconsciously rubbed her arm. The unfamiliar shapes and signs made Aura a little uncomfortable and desperately aware of her current situation. Right now, she and Scout were alone in the world with no safe place they knew of to hide and no way to get in contact with anyone that could possibly help. Not that she knew anyone that would help, anyone like that was either located in another galaxy or had died a long long time ago.

The idea of being some were new did scare the young gem but it also filled her with an equal sense of determination. All her life she had been stuck in that facility, stuck in an old outpost under a regiment of guards and scientists. Finally she had been given the opportunity to be free from all of that. Aura didn't really know what she was supposed to do next- but she did know that she was going to protect her freedom with everything she had. So these 'Crystal Gems' or whatever she had been referred to by the evil Mechanic wasn't going to stop her, she refused to allow that. Even if it meant taking them all head on.

The grass beneath her swayed in the wind and Aura finally allowed herself to relax just slightly and the gem laid down in on the earth. She looked up into the heavens and her eyes widened just a little at the stars that began to peek out through. They were small yet bright but sheer sight of them made Aura's brow crinkle with a semblance of a smile. Pulling Scout close, she pointed up to the sky.

"You see that star there, Scout?" Aura spoke, her voice breaking the soft silence that had come between them. "That one right there is actually called 'Vega'. It was named after a rare Variscite gem from long long ago who had discovered the star during it's travels." Aura jostled the bear and curled her legs in. A slight ache ran through her gem but she ignored it and allowed herself to get comfy in the soft grasses. It only took a little adjusting but Aura found a bit of a sweet spot where the core cuff wouldn't chaff as much as it normally did. "Sun told me that it had happened before even the Diamond Authority had come into existence- but I don't know if I believe that, Scout. Red said is was a bunch of nonsense but someone had to name the stars right?"

Scout's head lolled to the side and Aura couldn't help but snicker a bit at the movement. "Yeah, you're probably right. I mean, there are entire galaxies out there. There is bound to be one of them that _wasn't_ founded by them. I mean, space is a pretty big- there's so much space in space!' Aura bit back a laugh at her own little joke and deeply inhaled. She would be all right, they would be all right. Putting a hand over Scout's paw she squeezed gently as they both examined the sky. Was Red out there, stuck in a cell? Was Sun still out there, somewhere far away that they hadn't looked yet? Were they both out there at one of those stars, waiting for her to come home? The young quartz couldn't help but reach a hand up towards the stars that were oh so far away. She was coming, whatever it took- Aura was going to find them.

* * *

"Thanks for calling Greg." Pearl spoke in a hushed tone, lifting the sleeping boy into her arms.

"No problem." Greg sheepishly spoke, handing the cheeseburger backpack to a stoic Garnet. "Just wanted to make sure he got back safe and all."

Steven had been nodding off halfway through Greg's story and by the end of it he was completely out. So Greg had started up the van and driven it down the beach to the house, making sure to call Pearl so she knew where he was. It was pretty late and Pearl was frantic with worry by the time she had picked up the phone.

At first she had been furious with the both of them, Steven was grounded after all and he had wandered out and hadn't bothered to come back or even check in at curfew- Greg didn't even know that Steven had a curfew. But after explaining the situation to her, Pearl's anger had subsided and she was more sympathetic to them.

As Greg turned to make his way down the stairs, he faltered for a moment and watched as Steven and the other gems disappeared into the house. Pearl presumably going upstairs to put his son to bed. He stared for a little bit at the closed door before sighing quietly to himself as he strolled down the beach to his car. What would Rose say if she could see it now?

Greg closed his eyes briefly and smiled slightly, he already knew the answer to that one. He could see the answer in Steven's eyes everyday as his boy stared at the word around him. It was love, Rose would've loved every minute with their boy and no doubt would've told that to Steven everyday. But did Steven know how much his mom and the Crystal Gems loved him?

 **Authors note:** I'm not dead, sorry for the wait. I'll see if I can start cranking these out faster.


End file.
